SEASIDE HEIGHTS – The headlines reverberated over the Memorial Day weekend – “Three people stabbed, 73 arrested” during a “disturbance” on the Boardwalk.
The arrests were not unique. We saw similar problems up and down the Jersey Shore last summer.
For Republicans in an election year, this is “red meat.” Ever since unrest followed the George Floyd killing five years ago, Republicans have said Democrats overreacted and restrained police from doing their jobs.
So, it was no surprise that Jack Ciattarelli, the frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, was on the Seaside Heights Boardwalk Tuesday afternoon talking to visitors and merchants. He said the fracas over the weekend was a problem for the entire Shore, the state’s prime tourist attraction.
When he becomes governor, Ciattarelli said, “We’re not going to have flash mobs along the Jersey Shore and the chaos we saw this weekend. We want to put these businesses at ease. They only have three months to make a buck.”
Strolling along the Boardwalk on an afternoon that turned cloudy and a bit chilly, Ciattarelli walked up to Lucky Leo’s Arcade and asked an attendant how things were over the weekend.
Not good, he said, adding – a bit stoically – “You can’t stop it.”
Ciattarelli replied he plans to do just that. He said there are answers.
He proposed stronger penalties for adults, which would be those 18 and older. For juveniles, he wants community service and most importantly, perhaps, penalties for parents whose kids run amok.
As of now, police have few ways to punish juveniles. They detain them until a parent shows up, but unless there are serious offenses, the juveniles are not actually locked up. They simply sit in the police station.
The candidate began his tour at the Beachcomber Bar & Grill, which describes itself as a “Down-to-earth hangout with a chill vibe.”
On this day, that vibe included a group of supporters plus local officials such as the police chief and Mayor Anthony Vaz.
The chief didn’t want to talk about the weekend, but the mayor had a story that epitomized the problem.
He said officials tracked a social media post encouraging a big turnout in Seaside Heights to a 14-year-old boy who wasn’t even there. Vaz said he did it, because he wanted to get “a lot of clicks.” He said the boy was an athlete and had never been in trouble.
Quite candidly, controlling these kinds of social media posts can be impossible.
“We may need a bill that addresses those who instigate these things via social media, yeah, ” Ciattarelli said.
This is Ocean County, which is, arguably, the largest Republican region in New Jersey. The Boardwalk was not all that crowded, but a number of people recognized the candidate and wished him luck.
Told that it looked like he had a lot of fans, Ciattarelli cracked:
“I guess the polls are right.
